Creating a blog in two separate languages (3 posts)

Im wondering if anyone is running a blog in more than one language and how they are managing it.

I run my blog in English but as I reside in Spain there will be occasion that I can/need/should post in Spanish. I dont want an automatic translation or anything like that, just a way to "split" the blog into two separate and unique sections for each language.

Let me illustrate.
In your typical website there will be pages of content in English.
There is a button to select the Spanish version.
Clicking this takes you to the version of the site in that language. However it is not necessarily the same as the English version or a carbon copy of it. It may have different pages and information relevant to a Spanish visitor but in essence the same template is used.

I have seen some plugins to make a blog multi-lingual but have not tested them as yet as they offer auto translation, something I dont want.

Also i have considered using a subdomain to host a totally separate install of wordpress and manage the site in Spanish from there, meaning I can add a Spanish button to the English site and link it to the subdomain http://spanish.myblog.com

This is a little over the top though as then all the plugins, edits, fixes and changes are separate and need to be applied to each blog individually, something I would prefer to avoid.

Anyone had experience with this issue or can offer a possible solution or suggestion? If I am not explaining myself clearly I can expand more and maybe sketch it out to clarify things.